Ideas on feeding 100 people? (graduation party)

[jpowell]

Well, I'm bummed to report that while the meat is all tender, there's very little taste from the rubs...it's missing that taste pop when you get a piece of bark.
I'm sure there's an explanation, but all I can think is that the juices dripping down from the top pieces was affecting the bottom one?  Doesn't explain the top ones having almost no bark flavor either.
Looks like I bit off more than I could handle attempting 4. 
Now to do a little research on ideas to give it some taste in the crockpots tomorrow.  Jeff from smoking-meat says he puts some rub back on the pork after it's cooked.

[DivotMaker]

Jason, that's another reason to rotate halfway through.  Jeff's right - adding a little rub to the meat, when pulled, will put a little kick back in.  What rub did you use, and did you use yellow mustard as a binder?  The pics just didn't look like there was much rub on them.

[jpowell]

All that was left of 4 10lb butts ... after 150ish plates were used


I had 4 large crockpots, 1 for each butt/flavor.  I put a small amount of Jeff's rub into each pot along with about 1/2" of apple juice.
I also placed a bowl of Jeff's Rub next the various bbq sauces and instructed folks to grab a good sized pinch or 2 to sprinkle on top of their pork.
This pic after the 1st crock was emptied...



Some people sampled each of the 4 flavors ... the Brined butt was voted to have the smokiest flavor.  The cherry dr pepper butt was perhaps the juiciest.  Some of my foodie friends even said it all tasted very good.

[DivotMaker]

Jason, I'd mark this one down as an epic success!  No matter what they "say," the results speak for themselves!  Very nice job, Sir, very nice indeed!!

[old sarge]

Chalk that up to a major success.  Congratulations!

[jpowell]

Thanks guys.  I think I have a plausible explanation for what happened to the bark having little flavor.  I just need time to type it all out.

[kz0m]

3D will easily handle 40+ pounds of butts, that's what I would do also, here's a picture with 3 of the 4 butts I smoked all at one time a few months ago.

@kz0m - did you have problems when the top butts getting too close to the internal temp prob?

Jason,  sorry I'm at this party late.  Sounds like the kids graduation party was a super hit!!
Regarding your question about the meat and the box probe;  yes, I do have temp swings when the meat is closer than 2" away from the probe.  I guess it's the cold meat that messes with the probe and the box temp swings are crazy.  That happened only once, I learned quickly to keep the cold meat at least 2" away from the box probe.  Temp stays where it should be and my 3D is a joy to use!!  Sorry I missed your post over a month ago, my bad ;-)

Carl